Assessment of Test Bias on the MMPI-2-RF Higher Order and Restructured Clinical Scales as a Function of Gender and Race

The present study examined the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) Higher Order (H-O) and Restructured Clinical (RC) scales for test bias as a function of gender (female/male) and race (Black/White). The study involved examination of archival clinical data of 331 mental health outpatients at a university-based psychological services center. Forty-two hierarchical multiple regressions and 36 logistic regressions were calculated to assess for potential test bias, using MMPI-2-RF scales to predict conceptually relevant external criterion variables for each demographic group. Results of 78 analyses indicated eight instances of statistically significant test bias after adjusting for familywise error. All but two incidences of test bias represented a small effect size. The results are generally consistent with existing MMPI-2-RF test bias literature and suggest that although some significant differences may occur among different demographic groups, the MMPI-2-RF H-O and RC scales do not produce consistently biased results based on gender or race. As it is of the utmost importance that cultural considerations are included in the interpretation of assessment results, the current findings provide support for the use of the MMPI-2-RF H-O and RC scales across gender and ethnic groups.